On Saturday, writing for USA TODAY, conservative Naval War College Professor Tom Nichols laid into supporters of President Donald Trump who have politicized public health and refused to wear masks, calling them a “death cult.”
“We long ago became a narcissistic nation whose citizens believe they can become competent in almost any subject by watching enough television and spending enough time on the internet. But I was certain that a true national crisis — a war, a depression, or yes, a pandemic — would snap people back to reality,” wrote Nichols. “I was wrong to be so optimistic.”
As of Saturday, the United States has topped 1,000 coronavirus cases a day for four consecutive days. And a big part of this, Nichols argued, is a right-wing culture that has dismissed experts and jumped on a warped perception of freedom.
Trump supporters, Nichols concluded, are “secure in the knowledge that scientists are quacks and that no one understands viruses like Donald Trump. They will likely still believe that even as they lie in a hospital bed and are given last rites with a ventilator down their throats. If only the rest of us did not have to risk being in the bed next to them.”